Vietnam Women's Union

According to a World Bank report, released at the end of 2007, Vietnam’s Human Development Index (HDI) and Gender Development Index (GDI) were ranked 105th and 109th, respectively, out of a list of 177 countries.

The country’s gender gap index was ranked 68th out of 130 surveyed nations by the Global Gender Gap Report 2008. It was also placed 31st in the world and first among eight ASEAN countries for its proportion of female parliamentarians.

The minister, who is also chairwoman of the National Committee for Advancement of Women, attributed these achievements to the efforts of the State, coupled with the contributions of ministries and departments, as well as the assistance of a number of international organisations in implementing an action plan to advance Vietnamese women.

Thanks to the success of the plan, women now constitute almost 50% of the country’s workforce, and 83% of those participating in economic activities, of which skilled female workers account for more than 47%.

The number of women who were provided with health care services last year exceeded 85% of the female population and the rate of HIV-positive pregnant women stabilised at 0.34% of all pregnancies.

However, a number of difficulties still need to be adequately addressed, such as the prevalence of domestic violence, an increase in the number of women with HIV/AIDS, child abuse, both physical and sexual, and a gender imbalance in the number of Vietnam’s babies.

During a meeting to discuss the advancement of Vietnamese women on February 26, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan instructed Vietnam’s ministries and departments to usher in a range of laws pertaining to gender equality and domestic violence, as well as educating the general public, particularly ethnic minority women, of the importance of gender equality.